“Everyone’s staring at me again,” Jessica moaned, relaxing back into her chair.

“Staring at US,” Paige said. “And let them stare. Nothing they can do about it, they can hardly throw us off the plane now, can they?”

“God knows there are people who’d want to,” Jessica replied. “America may have legalized gay marriage, but that doesn’t mean everyone in America agrees with the Supreme Court.”

“It’s still the land of the free,” Paige retorted. “And I for one am glad to be going back there. Will be nice to see it before Donald Fart gets his hands on it, anyway…” Jessica giggled and straightened her sheer black pantyhose underneath her slender black skirt, before gripping her armrests for support as the vast jet plane thundered down the runway at Heathrow Airport, bearing the American girl back to her homeland for the first time in ten months.

Natalie smirked as she rummaged through her jewellery box, carefully examining every ostentatious earring she came across before returning it to the box, infuriating her lover more and more with every passing second.

“Mon dieu,” Zoe moaned as she tied her hair into a playful updo. “You’re going to the cinema, no one will be able to see your earrings anyway!”

“We’re going with celebrities,” Natalie retorted. “That means that there’ll be paparazzi there, and that means that EVERYONE will see my earrings. I need to make just the right impression…”

“You’re wearing a short, low-cut dress and fishnet stockings in the middle of winter,” Zoe chuckled. “Impression made!”

“And 6 inch platform stilettos,” Natalie reminded her lover. “Opportunities like this don’t come along every day…” Natalie laughed as she pulled a pair of long silver earrings from her jewellery box and pushed them into her earlobes, giggling happily at the feeling of the mental gently brushing her neck and making a soft rustling sound with every step she took.

“Gorgeous and girly,” Zoe giggled as Natalie did an elegant twirl for her. “Want to borrow my lipstick?”

“You know I do,” Natalie said with a smile, taking Zoe’s still-warm lipstick and applying layer after layer of it to her own mouth. “Mmm… second hand kisses!”

“Now how about a first hand kiss?” Zoe giggled, kissing Natalie deeply and letting their blood-red lipstick mingle.

“We’ll have to leave it at one,” Natalie sighed. “Don't want 'him' getting excited, not when I'm wearing a cache. Now come on, Luke Skywalker awaits!” Zoe giggled as she followed Natalie down to the flat’s living room, where their flatmate Annabelle was waiting for them, herself dressed in an elegant knee-length grey dress, sheer black stockings and stiletto heels just as high as Natalie’s. Not long later, the three women found themselves outside a small cinema in Highbury where they were greeted by a small gaggle of paparazzi, and the disapproving face of their supervisor.

“Very… Ostentatious, Natalie,” Rachel sighed as Natalie pulled several effeminate poses for the photographers, who obliged her by taking pictures of her even though the Mancunian girl wasn’t the person they were really interested in.

“So,” Natalie said, ignoring Rachel’s thinly-veiled insult. “Are the Angels here yet?”

“Some of them, yes,” Rachel replied. “Annabelle, you’re looking very elegant tonight!”

“Thanks, honey,” Annabelle said in a quiet voice as she coolly strode past Rachel into the cinema.

“Zoe… Hi,” Rachel said, barely making eye contact with the French girl as they stepped out of the cold and into the warmth of the cinema’s foyer. Once inside, Natalie and Zoe made a beeline for the refreshments table, where the French girl surprised her lover by letting out a long, exhausted sigh.

“…Hope you’re not going to be yawning all through the movie,” Natalie laughed. “If you do, try to synchronise it with whenever Chewbacca’s talking, that way no one will notice.”

“Funny woman,” Zoe retorted. “It’s- it’s Rachel. We’re not even at work and still she’s bossing us around… It’s like, ever since she moved to London she went from good boss to boss from hell!”

“Don’t let her wind you up,” Natalie said. “You’re exhausted because you’re treading on eggshells because of that stupid written warning. It’ll be gone in a few weeks, so try to relax. Especially here, when there’s nothing Rachel can do.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Zoe sighed. “There are a lot of kids here- like, kids less than sixteen years…”

“Must be the Angels’ younger brothers and sisters,” Natalie shrugged. “Wish I’d known in advance, I’d have tried to cadge tickets for my sisters, they’d have loved something like this.”

“Hey girlies!” Anna-Jade laughed as she approached Natalie and Zoe from behind, startling the young couple. “Can you believe all the names that are here? I’ve, like, spent the last 20 minutes chatting to Mary Carter, talking about growing up in Northern Ireland…”

“Cool,” Zoe chuckled. “Hey… is she the best friend of Krystie Fullerton?”

“I think so,” Anna-Jade shrugged. “Think I’ve seen her here too, why?”

“No reason,” Zoe mumbled as she grabbed her refreshments and disappeared into the crowd.

“Odd,” Anna-Jade said.

“She’s been like that for a while,” Natalie sighed. “Ever since we moved to London. Dunno if she’s just missing France.”

“You and I both know it’s tough living in a country where they speak a foreign language,” Anna-Jade sighed. “Though she at least has the advantage of not having to live as a ‘foreign gender’!”

“Really?” Natalie giggled. “Over a year on hormones and you still consider being female to be ‘foreign’?”

“Not anymore!” Anna-Jade said with an excited laugh. “God, it’s so weird to look around at all these celebrities knowing that in a few months’ time, we’ll be celebrities ourselves…”

“Bit of an exaggeration,” Natalie chuckled. “One, it’s just a crappy fly-on-the-wall show; two, there’s no guarantee anyone will even watch it, and three- most importantly- we all know who the REAL stars of that show will be.”

“Ah, the happy couple,” Anna-Jade laughed. “Reckon they’ll have landed in America by now?”

“Should’ve done,” Natalie said as her thoughts turned to her friends, who had indeed just touched down at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

“God, feels so good to stretch my legs,” Paige moaned as she stepped out into the airport’s crowded terminal.

“Every flight we do you always complain that your feet are killing you at the end,” Jessica teased.

“Hence why I’m wearing my flats!” Paige giggled as she showed Jessica the small footwear at the end of her nylon-covered legs. “Miracles might happen soon and we’ll be allowed to wear them when on a flight…”

“That WILL take a miracle,” Jessica sighed as she drank down the sight of Paige discreetly adjusting her trademark black tights underneath her loose, knee-length black dress. It had been ten months since the Scottish girl had started taking oestrogen, and Jessica found that she had difficulty remembering the girl that Paige used to be, the girl with whom Jessica fell in love. The Scottish girl’s waist was now so narrow that she could get away with not wearing a corset at work, whilst her hips had widened and her chest swollen to give her the type of feminine figure any young woman would die for. Her alabaster skin had softened, and even though Jessica knew it was impossible, even Paige’s bone structure seemed to have become more feminine, especially her teardrop-shaped face. Every part of Paige’s body made Jessica lustful… And also envious.

Despite the fact that they had both felt transgender ‘urges’ from a young age, and despite the fact that they both starting living and working as a woman full-time, Jessica had yet to start hormone replacement therapy, and every day that Paige became more feminine was a day that Jessica felt like she was being left behind. The main obstacle in Jessica’s mind that was preventing her from starting to transition was, and always been, her relationship with her parents. Jessica had returned to America in the hope of reconciling with her parents and if not getting their blessing to transition, at least getting their acknowledgement that she was an independent woman who was capable of making her own decisions- and, of course, their love.

“When are your parents picking us up?” Paige asked her lover as they took a seat in one of the airport’s many eateries.

“Umm, first thing tomorrow morning,” Jessica said as she was snapped out of her deep thought. “Gonna be a hell of a thing, them showing up and seeing me like this…”

“They need to know that the son they thought they had is gone,” Paige said, gently squeezing her lover’s hand. “They have a daughter now. It’s up to them to accept it. After what happened in November, they know that they can’t afford to lose you.”

“I know, I know,” Jessica sighed. “Let’s- let’s check into our hotel, okay?”

“Okay,” Paige whispered, boldly linking her fingers with Jessica’s as they walked through the airport.

“Okay,” Natalie announced, a wide grin plastered on her face as she exited the London cinema. “I wouldn’t say that was the best film of all time, but it’s certainly in the top one.”

“I liked the woman whose head looked like a walnut,” Annabelle said quietly as she looked around for her other flatmate. “Honey, where’s your girlfriend gone?” With a confused look on her face, Natalie looked around for Zoe, momentarily panicking before spotting her casually chatting with another, younger dark-haired girl.

“Hey! Zo!” Natalie called, immediately summoning the French girl and her new friend.

“Hey, Natalie!” Zoe chuckled, giving her lover a long kiss on her lips. “Natalie, Annabelle, I’d like you to meet Nikki, she’s been giving me a few tips on how to ‘pass’ as a woman!”

“Umm, hi Nikki,” Natalie said, exchanging air kisses with the young woman. “It’s kind of you to help Zoe to ‘pass’, but, um… You DO know that she’s genetically female, right?”

“Uh- really?” Nikki replied, causing Zoe to blush with embarrassment.

“Doesn’t mean I don’t need ‘tips’,” Zoe mumbled.

“Uh, yeah, it kinda does!” Natalie sighed, escorting Zoe and Annabelle away from their new friend and toward their waiting taxi.

“Zoe, honey,” Annabelle asked, confusion etched on her young face. “Why… Why would you be jealous of us T-girls?”

“Ugh,” Zoe spat. “It’s… Never mind, it’s silly…”

“Do- do you wish you were a man?” Annabelle asked.

“Ugh, no way!” Zoe retorted. “I ADORE being a girl. I just… Envy you girls and your ‘adventure’.”

“Trust me, honey,” Annabelle replied, “if anyone should be envious it’s us, of you.”

“You’d be saying that ten times louder if you knew how flexible she is,” Natalie laughed, making Zoe glare at her. “I’m not wrong, though. You’ve been given by birth something every one of us would kill for. We’d happily give up the ‘adventure’ just to be, well, you.”

“Even you, Miss ‘I don’t need hormones’?” Zoe asked her lover.

“I’m wearing a dress, aren’t I?” Natalie asked. “I’m wearing stockings, make-up, you referred to me as ‘Miss’… Besides, I happen to know for a fact your obsession with us T-girls only came about as a coping mechanism when at work.”

“That’s not-“ Zoe retorted, before sighing. “That’s most ENTIRELY true. But… It is mostly true.”

“Oh honey,” Annabelle cooed. “You still having problems at work?”

“…Bits of it,” Zoe said. “But I have a feeling everything should be okay soon.” Zoe joined in her friends’ smiles as the black taxi ferried the three women back to their modest flat, though her smile was more due to the fact that she knew something that Natalie and Annabelle didn’t.

Paige laid awake in her comfortable hotel bed, cursing her jet lag as the first traces of dawn began to filter through the window. She’d been excited to return to America- a place she’d always loved- but was mindful of how hers & Jessica’s earlier holiday had ended, and that whilst they’d get the chance to sightsee, the holiday was more about the American girl than it was about her.

“Mmph,” Jessica moaned as she stirred, her tired voice betraying the masculinity she tried so desperately to hide. “Paige? What time is it?”

“6:30,” Paige replied. “Or, as my body likes to call it, 11:30…”

“It’s only five hours, you’ll adjust soon,” Jessica moaned, taking several deep breaths to try to shake the ‘boy’ out of her voice. “My folks will be here just after 9, try to get back to sleep.

“Isn’t it already your brother’s birthday, though?” Paige asked. “He’ll be up opening his presents, surely he’d want a phone call from his big sister?”

“He’s eighteen and it’s Christmas in two days,” Jessica retorted. “…And I don’t really want to talk to him until I’ve had the chance to talk to mom and dad first, don’t want them to feel I’m ‘going behind their backs’ again.” Paige sighed as she gave Jessica a tight cuddle, making the American girl smile as she felt two small, soft mounds of flesh press into her back.

“Just think,” Paige whispered. “You might be coming home- well, back to England- with two of these yourself…”

“Only if everything goes perfectly, which it won’t,” Jessica snorted. “And only if I choose to stay in America for ten months!” Paige and Jessica giggled, before sharing a long, lazy kiss.

“If…” Jessica whispered. “If I do, you know, ‘take the first step’, it’ll mean that our sex life will be VERY different, you know that, right?”

“Aye,” Paige replied. “But that just means that it’ll be the same for you that it currently is for me, right?”

“More like the same for you that it currently is for me,” Jessica chuckled. “Especially when it comes to ‘receipt’…”

“I can get used to ‘non-organic’ sex,” Paige laughed, giving Jessica another kiss. “Especially if it’s you that’s ‘giving’! Speaking of which, it IS Christmas in two days, the season for ‘giving’…”

“Oh give me a break, I only just woke up,” Jessica moaned.

“And you want me to get more sleep,” Paige retorted. “And we are on holiday…” Jessica rolled her eyes at Paige’s advances, before giggling as the Scottish girl pulled the sheets over their heads and turned out the lights, their hands soon exploring each other's most sensitive areas...

“…Our stewardesses for this flight are Carly,” Rachel said, smiling as the tiny English girl bobbed a curtsey for the plane’s passengers. “Amy… And Zoe.” Rachel’s smile slipped briefly as Zoe bobbed a curtsey much clumsier than either Carly’s or Amy’s, before standing with her knees noticeably apart. “Flight time to Berlin will be one hour and fifty minutes, thank you for choosing to fly with Soixante-Trois Airlines, and we hope you enjoy your flight!” Rachel rebalanced her blue pillbox hat before sitting down next to Zoe and shooting the French girl a highly disapproving look.

“Every. Single. Flight,” Rachel hissed just loud enough for Zoe to hear. “Need I remind you that your written warning hasn’t expired yet? And the way you’re going, it never will!”

“I don’t know what you could possibly be talking about,” Zoe retorted.

“This- this juvenile obsession with pretending to be transgendered,” Rachel whispered. “You’re standing like a slouch when you and I both know you’re a classically trained ballerina, you’ve probably got the best posture of anyone who works for the company!”

“I haven’t danced in months,” Zoe shrugged.

“Bollocks,” Rachel snorted. “I saw your Facebook page, you’re giving lessons to Natalie and Paige in your free time.”

“Language?” Zoe retorted, further infuriating her supervisor.

“You want to talk about being offended?” Rachel asked. “How do you think Jessica or Paige feel about what you’re doing? I’m sure they think it’s hilarious that you’re trivialising them like this!”

“I’m not ‘trivialising’ anyone?” Zoe hissed, before closing her eyes and silently cursing as the ‘fasten seatbelts’ light extinguished and the four stewardesses retreated to the rear compartment of the plane.

“You’re staying in the kitchen this flight,” Rachel told Zoe. “For your own good!”

“Fine,” Zoe replied, straightening her tight skirt before removing her hat and jacket and preparing the passengers’ refreshments for the flight.

“How do I look?” Jessica asked Paige as she finished applying her favourite scarlet lipstick to her mouth.

“They invented the word ‘beautiful’ just for you,” Paige said, kissing Jessica deeply and giggling as their lipsticks began to mingle together. Reluctantly, Jessica broke away from the kiss and admired her reflection in the hotel room’s full-length mirror. Her face was immaculately made-up and framed by her shoulder-length, platinum blonde hair, and her girdle and padded bra had given her a figure just as feminine as Paige’s- or even a ‘natural’ girl. On top of her ‘figure’, she wore a tight red turtleneck sweater, a short, tight black miniskirt, nearly opaque black tights and a pair of low-heeled ankle booties. Jessica looked just like any other 23 year old woman, and yet she still felt uneasy. Her parents would undoubtedly see the man she was underneath, the boy they raised- and Jessica had her doubts that her parents would ever be able to look past that boy.

Even though she would never admit it, Jessica was also intimidated by Paige’s presence, and how effortlessly she seemed to slip into the female role. In contrast to Jessica’s overtly feminine look, Paige was dressed much more relaxedly, in a pair of tight, butt hugging jeans, a long-sleeved, low-cut black top and black ballerina flats. Paige wasn’t even wearing as much make-up as Jessica, and yet the American girl still felt she looked more feminine, especially when Paige flashed her trademark toothy grin.

“Ready?” Paige asked, linking her slender fingers with Jessica’s.

“No,” Jessica moaned, earning a sad sigh from her lover. “But it’s now or never… I just got a text from mom, she’s waiting downstairs.”

“Remember- I’ll always love you, no matter what,” Paige whispered to Jessica, sharing another quick kiss with her before the couple grabbed their suitcases and headed downstairs. Jessica’s breath caught in her mouth as she spotted her mother sitting in the foyer waiting for her. The middle-aged woman didn’t look angry, or anxious, or even happy that her oldest child was back on home soil for the first time in almost a year. Her face betrayed no emotion, but Jessica knew her well enough to know that she was just anxious as she was- even if there was no way that the older woman would ever show it. Jessica attempted to control her breathing as she approached her mother, but she was still on the verge of hyperventilating and her knees almost buckled in terror as the older woman caught sight of her daughter and cautiously approached her.

“Hi… Mom,” Jessica said in her now-natural ‘female voice’, catching the older woman by surprise.

“Hello, Paige,” Mrs. Tyler said, before turning her attention to her daughter. “Hello… Jessica. It’s good to finally meet, um, ‘you’.” Nervously, Mrs. Tyler held out her arms, prompting Jessica to do the same, and soon, the two women had embraced each other in a gentle, uneasy hug.

“How are Aaron and Hayley?” Jessica asked. “Is- is Aaron enjoying his birthday?”

“Yep,” Mrs. Tyler laughed. “All of his relatives spoiled him rotten. It’s an important birthday, his eighteenth, he’s finally becoming a man…” Jessica paused as her mother trailed off- even if it hadn’t been intended as such, what Mrs. Tyler said HAD come across as a slight at Jessica’s expense, and the transgendered girl had no idea how to respond to it.

“Is he going out with his friends tonight?” Paige asked, attempting to defuse the tension. “Or at the weekend?”

“Most of his friends have gone away for the festive season,” Mrs. Tyler responded, thankful for the question. “He’ll be going to a party with his friends over New Year’s.”

“Don’t forget that the drinking age here is 21, not 18,” Jessica said, making Paige giggle.

“Aye, I remember that from my last visit,” the only-just-turned 21 year old Scottish woman replied.

“Your brother and sister are eager to see you both,” Mrs. Tyler said. “They tell me you’ve been keeping in touch over Facebook?”

“Yeah,” Jessica said. “Though it’s still going to be strange seeing them- well, ‘as Jessica’…”

“There’s still time to change,” Mrs. Tyler said in a gentle voice. “Go in as ‘Jesse’, then change to ‘Jessica’ later, if you want?”

“No,” Jessica said firmly. “This is who I am now. This is who I was always meant to be.” The American girl winced at a look of pure disappointment flashed across her mother’s face, but no more words were said as the couple got into Mrs. Tyler’s car, and soon the three women were making their way back to Jessica’s childhood home.

Zoe breathed a sigh of relief as the aeroplane touched down in Berlin, and forced a smile on her face as she waved goodbye to the passengers as they disembarked. When she turned back into the plane to perform her post-flight checks, however, her smile disappeared as she saw Rachel scowling at her.

“I stayed in the kitchen,” Zoe snorted. “Like a good little woman. Happy?”

“I’m not going to be happy until you start taking this job seriously,” Rachel said in a dark voice.

“I do take this job seriously,” Zoe shrugged. “It’s just you that I don’t take seriously.” Zoe winced as the words involuntarily left her mouth, though as she heard the blonde-haired supervisor gasp she allowed herself a mischievous grin.

“Zoe!” Rachel snapped. “I am your supervisor!”

“And don’t you know it?” Zoe retorted, her smirk widening as Amy and Carly watched on in horror.

“Do you even want to keep this job?” Rachel asked, her anger reaching boiling point.

“Seeing as I’m starting a new job in January, I could take or leave it,” Zoe shrugged.

“You- you what?” Rachel asked. “Why is this the first I’m hearing about this?”

“Because let’s face it,” Zoe laughed. “As much as you may yell ‘I am your supervisor’, you’re not actually that important, are you?”

“You are on thin ice, Zoe,” Rachel hissed. “Thin ice!”

“It’s not that I dislike you as a person,” Zoe said. “I’m sure if we met socially we’d get on great, but you get those gold buttons on your blazer and you turn into a nightmare, not just at work, but at home as well. The way you swanned around the celebrities last night… It made me cringe. And I’m not the only one. Zoe had hoped that Rachel would take some time to reflect on the home truths that she was hearing, but much to the French girl’s dismay, Rachel only got angrier and angrier.

“When we get back to London,” Rachel snarled, “you, me and a manager are going to have a talk.”

“Looking forward to it already,” Zoe laughed as Rachel disappeared into the plane’s first-class section.

“Zoe…” Carly whispered as she approached the French girl. “Why are you doing this?”

“What ‘this’?” Zoe asked. “Irritating Rachel, quitting the job, pretending to be trans?”

“All of it,” Carly asked. “I mean, okay, you’ve got a new job, but- why take this job in the first place if you hate it so much?”

“…Because of my sister,” Zoe sighed. “She’s six years older than me and she always made the job seem so glamorous, so exciting, get to visit new and exotic places… Here I am, stuck in Berlin on a cold afternoon wearing a stupid corset, a stupid tight skirt and these stupid heels…”

“Yeah, the uniform sucks, you don’t need to tell me,” Carly replied.

“I tried to put myself in the mind of the trans girls,” Zoe explained. “How it’d be a dream for them to be able to work in a uniform like this. Tried to ‘appreciate’ it like they do… Like a coping mechanism. I think I got a bit too much ‘into it’, though, just playfully teasing customers at first, but after every flight that blonde witch…”

“Whoa,” Carly laughed. “A bit harsh?”

“…Maybe,” Zoe sighed. “I don’t WANT to hate her, but- ugh. I’ll just be happier when I never have to wear this uniform again!”

“I’m sure there’s a trans girl out there who’ll ‘appreciate’ it more than you do!” Carly laughed. “Where will you go, what will you do?”

“Back to my old job!” Zoe laughed. “One of the celebrities Rachel sucked up to last night just so happens to run a dance studio specialising in ballet, and she’s expanding and looking for a new teacher to share the workload, so…”

“Oh my god, that’s so cool!” Carly gushed. “Rachel will be so jealous that you get to work for an Angel…”

“WITH an Angel,” Zoe laughed. “And yes… That’s something else I’m looking forward to telling her when we get back to London!”

“Aaron?” Mrs. Tyler asked as she walked through her front door. “Hayley? You home?”

“Hi mom,” Hayley- Jessica’s fifteen year old sister- said, before gasping at the sight of the person she’d known for her whole life as her brother. “Hi Jessica!”

“Hi Hayley!” Jessica said, giving her younger sister a tight hug.

“You look-“ Hayley stammered. “You look- wow!”

“Thanks!” Jessica giggled. “I LOVE your dress!” Hayley giggled as she did a twirl in her smart, knee-length dress, but Jessica could see in the teenager’s eyes that her presence was making her uneasy.

“Where’s Aaron?” Mrs. Tyler asked.

“Yeah, where is the birthday boy?” Jessica asked, wincing as she saw the effect her ‘female voice’ had on Hayley.

“Picking up Lizzie,” Hayley sighed. “He said he’d be back soon.”

“Lizzie’s his new girlfriend, right?” Jessica asked.

“Yes,” Mrs. Tyler replied. “As you would know if you came back home more often!”

“Hey, I’m here now, aren’t I?” Jessica replied, making her mother and sister smile. “Is dad here?”

“He’s at work,” Mrs. Tyler replied. “He’ll be back later today. You two should go and get unpacked…”

“I’ll give you a hand,” Hayley offered, helping Jessica and Paige carry their suitcases up the stairs to Jessica’s childhood bedroom. Jessica winced as she entered the bedroom where she grew up- unlike her bedroom in London, or her old bedroom in Paris, there wasn’t a trace of femininity anywhere in the room. The room wasn’t masculine- her small bookshelf was filled with her old childhood books about geography and American history, and the posters on her wall were of beautiful landscapes, rather than cars or sports stars.

“So, Hayley,” Paige asked, breaking the awkward silence that filled the room as the three women packed away the couple’s clothes. “Jess tells me that you’re in tenth grade now, is that right?”

“Yeah,” Hayley replied, leading to another awkward silence.

“Hayley-“ Jessica whispered, only to be interrupted by the teenager.

“Jess,” Hayley said. “Wh- why did- I mean- just- why?”

“Why are you asking ‘why’?” Jessica asked. “You’ve seen photos of ‘Jessica’ on Facebook for the last ten months, you could’ve asked me ‘why’ anytime since then.”

“That was different,” Hayley mumbled. “This is, you know, ‘in the flesh’, seeing you like that… It- it just seems wrong, you know?”

“You want to know ‘why’?” Jessica asked, anger seeping into her voice. “Imagine waking up every morning and feeling an urge, a ‘pull’ that’s tearing you apart. You know your life must take one direction, but everyone else says you have to take another, but no matter how hard you try, you can’t shake the feeling that the direction you’ve chosen is wrong.”

“It was the same for me,” Paige interjected as she linked fingers with her American lover. “Every morning I’d go to school, or to work, and it- it was like an insult, like the world was deliberately tormenting me by making me a boy when everyone else got to be a girl.”

“So… It’s like, an addiction?” Hayley asked, making Paige sigh while Jessica rolled her eyes.

“It’s not an addiction,” Jessica said. “It’s not a fetish, either.”

“I never said it was,” Hayley said defensively. “But, well, you know how people, the public, I mean, view crossdressers…”

“I’m not a-“ Jessica snapped, before taking a deep breath. “Like I said, this isn’t a fetish. This isn’t something I’m doing just for fun. It’s something I’m doing because it’s the only way my life feels, well, ‘right’.”

“The way I see it,” Paige said, “I’m not a boy pretending to be a girl, I’m a girl who used to pretend to be a boy.”

“So… You’ve not had any regrets since you ‘changed’?” Hayley asked.

“None,” Paige said confidently.

“…Jess?” Hayley asked.

“None,” Jessica said, though both Paige and Hayley could tell immediately that the American girl wasn’t being entirely truthful. “Well… No regrets in myself. The only regret is what happened with you guys, with family. And this- what we’re doing now- isn’t helping.” Jessica felt guilty about ‘telling off’ her younger sister, but the whole reason she’d returned to America was to reconcile with her family- and she refused to compromise.

“…Sorry,” Hayley mumbled. Jessica sighed and smiled happily, before giving Hayley a tight, sisterly hug.

“And are you really telling me you never wanted a big sister when you were younger?” Jessica asked, making the fifteen year old girl laugh.

“Well… Yeah, all the time,” Hayley chuckled.

“I’ve got two,” Paige laughed. “Trust me, you’re not missing out!” The three young women all chuckled as they finished unpacking and headed down the stairs into the living room, where Jessica’s nerves once again got the better of her as she saw her brother and his girlfriend sat on the couch. Jessica winced as Aaron’s eyes went wide at the sight of her, and her nerves only increased as the young man stood up and slowly approached her.

“Welcome home, sis,” Aaron said, giving Jessica a cautious, but genuine, hug.

“Th- thanks,” Jessica whispered. “Um, happy birthday, Aaron!”

“Thanks,” the eighteen year old boy replied. “Jess, this is Lizzie, my girlfriend, Lizzie, this is Jessica… My sister.”

“Hi,” Lizzie said with a broad grin. “Aaron talks so much about you, it’s nice to finally meet you!”

“All good things, I hope?” Jessica giggled as she gave Lizzie a quick hug. “Aaron, you remember Paige, right?”

“Of course!” Aaron laughed as he gave Paige a hug. “Lizzie, this is my sister’s partner Paige, who has the single best accent in the world!”

“Bit of an exaggeration,” Paige said in her thick Glaswegian accent, making the room laugh as she gave Lizzie a girlish hug.

“Not going to ask me ‘why’?” Jessica asked her brother as she sat down, causing Hayley to cringe.

“It’s none of my business,” Aaron shrugged. “You’ve got to live your life the way you want. I’d rather have a sister than no sibling at all.”

“Hey!” Hayley snorted. “TWO sisters?” Jessica smiled as the room erupted into laughter once again- even though her initial coming out to her brother and sister in February had been successful, it had also been whilst she was dressed as ‘Jesse’. Telling her siblings that she was transgendered was a very different prospect from shoving it in their faces, but it had gone better than Jessica had dared hope. However, there was one member of Jessica’s family to whom she hadn’t yet ‘presented’ herself- her father, who would return home from work soon, and would undoubtedly be surprised by the sight of his firstborn son sat on his couch wearing a short skirt…

Despite herself, Zoe actually felt nervous as the aeroplane touched down at London’s Heathrow airport. Following her confrontation with Rachel in Berlin, Zoe had again found herself relegated to the kitchen for the flight home, but she was confident that it would be the last time she would ever set foot on an aeroplane as anything other than a paying passenger.

“Don’t bother with the post-flight checks,” Rachel said to Zoe in a dark voice after the last passenger had disembarked. “Go to the office and wait for me there.”

“Yes ma’am,” Zoe sarcastically responded, earning disapproving looks from not just Rachel, but Carly and Amy as well. Zoe made a point of holding her head high as she strode through the corridors of the airport until she reached the small office that had been reserved for the use of Soixante-Trois Airlines’s senior management- one of whom was waiting inside for her.

“Hello Zoe,” Alana- Zoe and Rachel's manager- said in a dark voice as Zoe entered the office and sat down, smoothing her tight blue skirt underneath her. An awkward silence followed, as Alana typed out a letter on her laptop.

“I’m not leaving this office with a job, am I?” Zoe asked.

“We have to wait for Rachel,” Alana replied. “I’d prefer not to speak off the record.”

“If it saves you any time,” Zoe said, “I’m quite happy to just quit now.”

“I thought your new job doesn’t start until the second week in January?” Alana asked. “Seems like a waste when this is something we can work through, we can put you on flights where you have no customer contact, I can shuffle the roster and keep you and Rachel on separate flights if you think that might help?”

“Is it really worth it?” Zoe asked, before taking a deep breath as Rachel walked through the door and sat down next to Alana.

“Now that we’re all here,” Alana said in a formal voice, “we’ll get started. Zoe, I’ve had it brought to my attention that in recent weeks, your behaviour has been below the standard expected of a Soixante-Trois stewardess, and that you have had more than one falling out with a superior.” Zoe frowned as Rachel smirked at Alana’s use of the word ‘superior’, but she reminded herself that Rachel’s ‘superiority’ wouldn’t last much longer- and the sooner it ended, the happier Zoe would be.

“I’ll ask again,” Zoe said in as calm a voice as she could manage. “Am I leaving this office with a job?”

“We need to review all the available material before making a decision,” Rachel said.

“You need to perform a character assassination before firing me,” Zoe snorted, her voice darkening. “I’ll save you the bother. Let me know where I can turn in my ID.”

“Whoa, Zoe, let’s not be hasty,” Alana said, clearly shocked by Zoe’s actions. “We weren’t definitely going to dismiss you, we were going to let you put your point of view across, let us know if there was anything we could do in your last few weeks working for us. Also, we need to consider the documentary as well- you’re in a lot of the footage that’s already been filmed.”

“I appreciate that,” Zoe said, “but my mind is made up.”

“In that case,” Alana sighed, “thank you for your fourteen months of service.” Zoe smiled as the three women stood up and she shook both Rachel’s and Alana’s hand, before her now-former supervisor escorted her out of the office.

“I’ll take your ID and uniform,” Rachel said, her voice filed not with anger, but with disappointment. “You know, you could’ve been a great stewardess, if only you’d taken the job seriously.”

“Oh, I take the job seriously, it’s the company that I don’t,” Zoe chuckled. “Antoine Masson is a misogynistic, transphobic pervert whose mind is stuck in the sixties.”

“Be careful what you’re saying,” Rachel cautioned.

“What are you going to do, fucking fire me?” Zoe laughed. “We wear uniforms that make it virtually impossible to do our job, all because Masson believes women are only good for being ogled at. Why else do you think he keeps slime like Jacques Lacroix on the payroll? How many other companies do you know that hold an annual beauty pageant?”

“That you participated in!” Rachel reminded the French girl.

“Only as an excuse to dance on stage,” Zoe retorted as she stepped into the locker room and stripped off her uniform for the last time, sighing happily as she loosened her corset. “I’m surprised Masson doesn’t make us- sorry, YOU- dress up as playboy bunnies on flights.”

“Do you need a lift home?” Rachel asked Zoe, having lost the strength to argue with the French girl.

“Please,” Zoe said, before sighing. “Rachel… I would’ve liked us to be friends. Maybe now that you AREN’T my superior, you might be able to actually treat me as an equal?”

“…Let’s just get you home,” Rachel sighed as the two women, having changed into their formal pencil dresses, strode through the crowded airport. “Have you told your sister about your new job yet?”

“She’s next on the list,” Zoe sighed, wondering how her sister will react to the news that she’d thrown away what was, very early on, a promising career…

Jessica took several deep, nervous breaths as she heard the unmistakable hum of her father’s BMW pull up in the driveway, only calming down as Paige gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

“It’ll be okay,” Paige whispered. “He knows what to expect, he’s seen the photographs of you, it WON’T be a shock to him.”

“Nonetheless, I’d best go talk to him,” Jessica’s mother said, leaving the living room in silence.

“He WILL be okay about it,” Aaron reassured his new sister. “There’s nothing he can do about it either way, is there?”

“Other than disown me,” Jessica moaned. “Or disinherit me, or kick me out on the street…”

“If he was going to do any of those things, he wouldn’t have let you in the house in the first place,” Hayley said, before wincing at her choice of words. “Umm, well, um, you know what I mean…”

“Thanks, Hayley,” Jessica whispered, before standing up and smoothing her skirt as her parents walked into the room. “Hi dad! It’s me, um, Jessica…”

“Hello, Jess- Jessica,” Mr. Tyler said in a stoic voice as he cautiously approached the young woman, before giving her a gentle handshake and sitting down next to his wife. “Did you have a good flight from London?”

“Umm, yes…” Jessica said, taken aback by her father’s lack of reaction. “Dad, is- isn’t there- isn’t there anything you want to say to me? Or ask me?”

“…Are you still enjoying your job?” Mr. Tyler asked after a brief pause.

“Well, um, yes,” Jessica replied. “They’re expanding the London hub to cover Eastern Europe in May, so with luck I’ll be covering all three routes…”

“Good,” Mr. Tyler said, forcing a proud smile onto his face. “I’m glad you’re making a success of your career. Aaron, have you told your bro… have you told Jess- Jessica yet about your college application yet?”

“I’ve, um, been accepted to NYU,” Aaron said, making both Jessica and Paige gasp excitedly. “Majoring in American History.”

“We’re taking a trip up to New York tomorrow to celebrate,” Mrs. Tyler said. “The two of you are welcome to join us, of course.”

“New York? Yes please!” Paige said excitedly, making the room giggle.

“Paige is a bit of an America fangirl,” Jessica explained. “She lives in one of the most scenic places in the world but she’s obsessed with bright lights and big cities, heh.”

“You see one blade of grass, you’ve seen them all,” Paige laughed. “But Times Square, the Empire State Building, Central Park…”

“Trafalgar Square, the Shard, Hyde Park?” Lizzie asked, before blushing. “Sorry, sorry… I’m kinda a Britain fangirl, I lived in London for a year when I was eight, I’ve always wanted to go back for a vacation, see how much it’s changed, how much has stayed the same.”

“If we ever have any space at the apartment, you’re welcome to stay with us,” Jessica offered, her smile widening as the atmosphere in the room started to relax.

“She means ‘the flat’,” Paige said, prompting another mass chuckle as the family whiled away the evening with talk of work, university and school.

Zoe kicked off her heels the second she returned to the apartment and sighed loudly as she unzipped her dress, unclipped her stockings and collapsed heavily onto the apartment’s sofa. Even though she had a new job to start the following month, she was now officially unemployed… And she was not looking forward to breaking the news to her sister. After taking a deep breath, Zoe reached into her bag for her phone and dialled the number for the Parisian flat where she used to live, smiling as it was answered after the second ring.

“Guten Abend Zoe!” Marie chuckled. “How was Berlin?”

“Cold, grey and German,” Zoe laughed. “Marie…” Zoe paused, leading to an awkward silence.

“…Zoe…?” Marie asked with a chuckle. “What’s up? Getting sick of London and want to come back to Paris? Can’t say I blame you. It’s a pity you’ll be at work tomorrow and the 25th, this will be the first Christmas we’ll spend apart.”

“Yeah, that’s the thing,” Zoe said with a grimace. “I, um, kinda… Kinda won’t be at work.”

“Umm, how on Earth did you swing that?” Marie asked.

“…By quitting,” Zoe said, leading to a long pause. “Umm… Marie?”

“You QUIT!?” Marie yelled. “What- who- what the fuck, Zoe!?”

“I’ve got another job,” Zoe said. “I’m going to be teaching ballet again, here in London. It’s what I love doing, it’s what I’m good at.”

“Does it pay as well as Soixante-Trois?” Marie asked.

“Well… No,” Zoe answered. “But it’s not far off, maybe a 15% pay drop, 20% at most.”

“And that’s enough to make you abandon a promising career?” Marie snorted.

“Just because you’re good at it, it doesn’t mean that I will be!” Zoe snapped. “I’ve had this damned written warning hanging over my head for a year now, I’ve had Rachel constantly breathing down my neck… Let’s face it, I was a terrible stewardess.”

“You weren’t terrible,” Marie said, before letting out a long sigh. “If this is what you really want…”

“It is,” Zoe said, her voice suddenly turning meek. “Marie, I- I really need your support. Please.”

“…You’re a fool for throwing away such a great opportunity,” Marie sighed.

“I’ll take that as a ‘no’, then,” Zoe sighed. “Joyeux Noel, Marie.” Zoe clicked off her phone and tossed it back in her bag, before letting out a long, frustrated yell. The smile only returned to her face fifteen minutes later when Natalie entered the apartment and, upon seeing Zoe’s state of undress, immediately kicked off her own heels, unzipped her tight pencil dress and unclipped her stockings.

“So, are we going for a ‘can’t be arsed’ dress code tonight?” Natalie giggled as she gave Zoe a quick kiss. “Because if I untie the cache sex, the way you look now, it’s kinda gonna show through the dress!”

“Then untie it,” Zoe said, stepping out of her dress and her stockings and roughly shoving her lover into their bedroom.

“Umm, okay,” Natalie laughed. “Sex before dinner… I could get used to this!”

“Good,” Zoe said, forcing her tongue down Natalie's throat as she hastily pulled the clingy dress off of the English girl's body.

Thirty minutes later, both women laid in bed panting heavily, their make-up smeared and their naked bodies covered in a fine sheen of sweat.

“Yeah,” Natalie gasped. “I could DEFINITELY get used to this! I can’t be arsed to cook, Annabelle won’t be back for hours, let’s just get a takeaway. Hope you’re hungry!”

“Ravenous,” Zoe said with a wicked grin on her lips as she grabbed Natalie’s wrist, preventing her from reaching for her phone. Zoe wrapped her arms around Natalie’s neck and kissed her deeply, her tongue exploring every corner of Natalie’s mouth as the Englishwoman feebly tried to resist.

“Ugh, anymore and I’m going to be asleep until the New Year,” Natalie laughed, unwrapping Zoe’s arms from around her. “We need to save our energy, we both have work tomorrow!”

“Nope,” Zoe said with a lustful smile as she kissed Natalie again.

“Um, what?” Natalie asked. “What do you mean, ‘nope’?”

“I am officially unemployed,” Zoe said, her smile changing from ‘lustful’ to ‘smug’. “You and I are no longer colleagues.”

“Um, uh- Seriously?” Natalie asked. “How did this happen? What happened? Are you okay?”

“Relax!” Zoe giggled. “I’ve got a new job, I start it in January. I’m going to be teaching ballet again, this time at Krystie Fullerton’s new school.”

“Wh- when did that happen?” Natalie asked.

“A couple of weeks ago,” Zoe said. “I introduced myself to her after we moved to London, we got talking, turns out I’m WAY more qualified than her, she was expanding, needed an additional teacher… It just fit. So I handed in my notice, and today we decided to cut my notice period short.”

“Why am I only hearing about this now?” Natalie asked, barely restraining her anger.

“…I thought you’d be happy for me,” Zoe said.

“I AM,” Natalie sighed. “Zoe, I love you, I really do, but- but- you only ever think about yourself!”

“So I’m selfish, am I?” Zoe hissed.

“No- I didn’t mean-“ Natalie stammered.

“Well I’ll be selfLESS for once and let you sleep in the bed alone tonight!” Zoe snapped, grabbing her suitcase and packing it full of clothes.

“Wait- Zoe!” Natalie yelled. “What are you doing? Where do you think you’re going?”

“Home!” Zoe yelled, pulling on a pair of tight jeans, a baggy sweater and her favourite long brown boots. “Goodbye, MATTHEW!” Natalie bit her lip to prevent her from yelling at Zoe as the French girl left the apartment, before sighing heavily. Natalie had noticed how, over the last few weeks, Zoe had become more and more ‘erratic’, but she never imagined that she’d simply abandon her job, and she was deeply hurt by Zoe’s use of her birth name. However, despite herself, Natalie still loved the young Frenchwoman, and spent the whole night pining for her return…

As Christmas Eve dawned on either side of the Atlantic, none of the employees (and former employees) or Soixante-Trois Airlines were feeling particularly festive. Even Paige and Jessica were feeling tense, despite the latter girl’s reconciliation with her family the previous day. The American girl sighed as her alarm clock woke her from a fitful sleep- though she was unsurprised to find Paige already awake and getting dressed.

“Ah, good to see that they’re back,” Jessica giggled as Paige pulled a pair of opaque black tights up her legs.

“Just felt like a break from them yesterday,” Paige laughed, before pulling on a smart burgundy turtleneck sweater and a knee-length black pencil skirt.

“A break from black nylons?” Jessica giggled. “Are you sure you’re the real Paige Robertson?”

“In the flesh,” Paige laughed, giving Jessica a soft kiss. “Ready for today? Our big family outing to the Big Apple…”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Jessica moaned.

“Oh come on,” Paige said, sitting Jessica up and giving her a gentle cuddle. “Your family ARE making an effort, you know? It could’ve been much, much worse- I mean, just look at Anna-Jade, the way her quote-unquote family have treated her.”

“I know, I know,” Jessica sighed.

“You- you’re not having second thoughts, are you?” Paige asked. “About transitioning?”

“I didn’t,” Jessica confessed, “right up until I saw dad yesterday. The look in his eyes, it- Ugh, never mind. Come on, let’s get ready, don’t want to keep the family waiting…”

“No, tell me, please,” Paige said. “This should be a happy time, especially for you.”

“I just- I just missing their son,” Jessica sighed. “I had a good life here, as Jesse. Coming back, it just reminds me of everything I’ve given up to be Jessica. My dad and I used to do loads of things together- we used to go fishing, go to ball games, hell, it was even him who taught me to drive. I had so many good memories as Jesse… Why d’you think I wanted to spend Christmas with your parents, in Scotland?”

“It’s not exactly been easy for me either,” Paige said. “Okay, I had more support from my family, I’ll grant you that, but I had loads of great memories as ‘Paul’. When I was younger my dad would take me to Ibrox every month, he taught me to play golf… And you know what? There’s no reason I can’t do any of those things now that I’m wearing a skirt. There’s no reason you can’t make new, even happier memories with your dad either.”

“You’re right,” Jessica said, a genuine smile creeping across her face. “Got to get ready first, though!” Paige watched with a proud smile as Jessica dressed for the day in a pair of cute patterned tights, followed by a short, long-sleeved navy blue dress that perfectly complemented her shoulder-length blonde hair and deep blue eyes.

“Beautiful,” Paige said, giving Jessica a kiss just before the American girl finished her look by, as always, applying a liberal layer of bright red lipstick. The two women were greeted in the family living room by wide smiles from Jessica’s parents and siblings- even though her father’s smile looked very forced.

“Good morning, you two!” Mrs. Tyler beamed. “Hope you’re ready for your big New York adventure!”

“I have literally dreamed about this,” Paige giggled.

“Good,” Mr. Tyler said. “Aaron and I will take a look around the campus- well, the outside of it, anyway- whilst you four girls enjoy the sights and sounds!” Jessica forced a smile onto her face as her father led her brother into one car, whilst she, Paige and Hayley got into her mother’s car. Jessica COULD make new memories with her father as his daughter… or his father could simply turn all of his attention his one remaining male offspring instead.

The sound of her mobile phone ringing startled Anna-Jade, distracting her from the television programme she was watching and causing her to nearly fumble the phone as she rushed to answer it.

“Hello?” The Irishwoman asked.

“Hi, Anna-Jade? It’s Alana,” the unmistakable voice of Anna-Jade’s manager replied. “Everyone who was due in today has come in, so we won’t be needing you today after all. Thanks for agreeing to be on standby though, especially today of all days- hope you have a great Christmas Eve!”

“Thanks,” Anna-Jade replied with a smile. “Will do!” Anna-Jade’s smile faded, however, as she clicked off her phone. With Rachel at work and Jessica and Paige in America, she had the entire flat to herself, which just served to remind her of how alone she was- and that it would be the second Christmas in a row that she was estranged from her parents. Anna-Jade hesitated before putting her phone away- every part of her wanted to sit back and enjoy her Christmas Eve, as Alana had advised, but an even larger part of her wanted to try, once again, to call her parents, to finally reconcile with them. She’d seen Jessica’s Facebook photos detailing her ‘Christmas miracle’, but every time she dared to believe that the same could happen for her, another part of her brain reminded her that her parents wouldn’t even acknowledge her existence. Every time Anna-Jade had called her parents, the phone had been cruelly slammed down, leaving the Irishwoman feeling worse than ever.

Anna-Jade agonised for several minutes over whether or not to call her parents, before finally deciding that if she didn’t, she always be troubled by the possibility of what would happen. With her manicured thumb trembling, she dialled the number for her childhood home in Londonderry, and let out a small gasp as the phone was answered after the second ring.

“Hello?” The unmistakable voice of Anna-Jade’s father asked.

“Hi dad,” Anna-Jade said in a small, timid voice. “Merry Chri-“

“Don’t ever call this number again!” Mr. Houghton yelled, before loudly slamming the phone down, leaving Anna-Jade sat on the sofa in a state of shock.

“…Stmas…” Anna-Jade whispered, her body shaking with raw emotion. “Merry fucking Christmas you fat, bigoted, bastarding bollocks, shitfaced worthless lump of fucking old-fashioned closed-minded fucking twat!” Anna-Jade hurled her phone onto a nearby cushion, before hurling herself onto the sofa, tears flowing freely from her eyes as she struggled to control her scrambled emotions.

“God, get a grip, Anna-Jade,” the Irishwoman whispered to herself as she finally got her tears under control. “You’re 26, for Christ’s sake, you’re a woman, not a girl… And most DEFINITELY not a man or a boy!” Anna-Jade stared at her slender body, clad in its tight grey bodysuit, dark translucent tights and short denim skirt, and smiled. Everything about the clothes she wore felt right. Her long, scarlet fingernails felt right. Her cascading ginger hair felt right. And most of all, the oestrogen that had flooded her body for over a year felt not just right, but perfect. Anna-Jade wasn’t just passable, she was cute- possibly even beautiful. She’d never had any trouble catching the attention of single men, even if her ‘status’ kept her love life to a minimum. And yet, her parents refused to accept her, refused to believe that was she was doing was good for her in any way, shape or form.

A beep from Anna-Jade’s phone brought the Irishwoman’s attention back to reality. For a brief second, she dared to believe that it was a voicemail from her parents, apologising for what they said and wishing her a merry Christmas.

“Don’t be so fucking stupid,” Anna-Jade whispered to herself as she peered at the notification, which was from Facebook, and read ‘Mary Carter sent you a friend request’. “Who the fuck’s Mary Carter?” Anna-Jade racked her brains, trying to think of anyone she knew by that name, before suddenly realising exactly who ‘Mary Carter’ was- and more importantly, how famous she was, especially in her native Northern Ireland.

“Oh sh-“ Anna-Jade gasped. “YOU’RE sending ME a request?” Hastily, Anna-Jade opened her Facebook app and accepted the friend request, before spending the next five minutes agonising over what message to send to the famous young woman.

‘Hi,’ Anna-Jade ultimately typed, grimacing at the simplicity of the message as she sent it.

‘Hiya,’ Mary almost immediately replied with a smiling emoticon. ‘Was great to meet a fellow Ulster girl the other night!’

‘Likewise,’ Anna-Jade replied with a smiley of her own.

‘Not at work today then?’ Mary asked. ‘Not jetting to anywhere sunny and glamorous?’

‘I’m off to Dublin tomorrow if that counts,’ Anna-Jade replied, giggling as she earned a sticking-out tongue smiley in response. ‘Take it you’re not wowing and crowds on any red carpets today then?’

‘Lol no,’ Mary replied. ‘Just watching hubby play with our daughter.’

‘You’re not spending Christmas at home, then?’ Anna-Jade asked.

‘I’ve lived in London for five years,’ Mary replied. ‘This really is home now. Besides, hubby’s parents all live in London, and it’s not like I don’t get back to Belfast at other times of the year. How about you, you say you’re from Derry, right?’

‘Yeah,’ Anna-Jade replied. ‘But me and my parents… You know I’m trans, right?’

‘Rachel did tell me, yes,’ Mary typed. ‘And it doesn’t matter to me one way or the other.’ Anna-Jade smiled, and conveyed her happiness with a smiley, before typing her next message.

‘It does matter to my parents, though,’ Anna-Jade typed with a loud sigh. ‘I haven’t spoken to them since I came out, they refuse to acknowledge that I’m their child.’

‘Oh, I’m so sorry,’ Mary replied. ‘People who abandon their offspring like that don’t deserve to be parents. If Kristina-Leigh told me that she wanted to be a boy I wouldn’t hate her, I’d give her a big hug and praise her for being so brave.’

‘In fairness, it’s not like I’m a little kid,’ Anna-Jade typed. ‘I’m 27 next month, most people I know who are my age have families of their own.’

‘Still though, you shouldn’t be alone at Christmas, of all times,’ Mary typed. ‘Do you have any other family, any brothers or sisters?’

‘One older brother, one younger sister,’ Anna-Jade replied. ‘Neither of them have spoken to me since I came out either.’

‘Your younger sister’s name wouldn’t be Michelle by any chance, would it?’ Mary typed, making Anna-Jade recoil in shock.

‘Umm… How on Earth did you know that?’ Anna-Jade typed.

‘Lol,’ Mary replied with a smiley. ‘Used to know a girl called Michelle Houghton from Derry, back when I was doing gymnastics competitions. Me and you may have even met before!’

‘Heh,’ Anna-Jade replied. ‘Yeah, she all but spat in my face after I came out. Doubt she’d be willing to see me again.’

‘You never know until you ask,’ Mary typed. ‘I’ve actually got her on my friends list, I’ll have a word, see if I can’t ‘re-introduce’ the two of you.’

‘Really, there’s no need to go to any trouble on my behalf,’ Anna-Jade typed.

‘It’s fine,’ Mary typed with a smiley. ‘Always got told as a kid that a good deed is better than any physical present. Leave it with me- I’ll message you back when I hear anything.’

‘Thanks,’ Anna-Jade typed. ‘Merry Christmas!’ The flame-haired Irishwoman smiled as she set her phone back down beside her, before laying back on the sofa and taking a deep breath. Her encounter with her parents had taught her not to get her hopes up, but she couldn’t help but feel that she may have a family Christmas after all…

“How may I help you, miss?” Rachel asked, forcing a professional smile on her face as she attended to her passenger, who simply stared at her uncomprehendingly.

“Excuse-moi?” Zoe asked, internally giggling as she saw Rachel’s frustration increase. “Je suis désolé, je ne parle pas Anglais."

“Comment puis-je vous aider, mademoiselle?,” Rachel asked, imperceptibly biting her lip.

“Café au lait, s’il vous plait,” Zoe requested, grinning as her former supervisor placed the rich, hot beverage on her tray table.

“Ce sera tout, mademoiselle?,” Rachel asked.

“Oui, oui,” Zoe said, dismissing Rachel with a wave. The ticket for the flight to Paris may have cost more than twice that of a budget airline, but to Zoe, the opportunity to have Rachel wait on her hand and foot was worth every penny.

After the plane landed at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport- which had been Zoe’s ‘second home’ for so long, Zoe disembarked along with the other passengers, pausing briefly to mouth ‘sorry’ to Rachel as she walked past her.

After collecting her suitcase, Zoe headed to the tram stop, the same one she’d used to travel home every day for over a year, and soon found herself stood outside her old home. After taking a deep breath, Zoe knocked on the door, and smiled as she was greeted by the disapproving face of her sister.

“Come on in,” Marie sighed, giving her sister a tight hug. “’Miss Unemployed’…”

“Temporarily unemployed,” Zoe corrected the older woman. “I should have done this a long time ago, back when I was first having trouble at work…”

“Back when you didn’t have another job to go to?” Marie asked, making Zoe snort dismissively as she collapsed onto the apartment’s plush sofa. “And are leotards and pointe shoes really that much better than tight skirts and high heels?”

“Infinitely better,” Zoe laughed.

“How long will you be in Paris?” Marie asked.

“Don’t know,” Zoe sighed. “Might see if I can get a flight down to Nice, would be nice to spend Christmas with mum and dad, even if I won’t get there in time for le Réveillon…”

“Wait, you’re not going back to London?” Marie asked. “What- have you and Natalie had a falling out?”

“Ugh…” Zoe moaned, slumping down and resting her head on the back of the sofa. “I- I kinda destroy everything I touch…” Marie sighed and gave her younger sister another tight hug, before handing her the apartment’s phone.

“Call her,” Marie urged Zoe. “You don’t destroy everything you touch, you just… Crack it a little. Nothing that can’t be repaired by saying ‘I’m sorry’.” Zoe sighed as she took the phone from Marie and dialled the number for her London home.

“Hello?” Natalie’s voice answered.

“Hi Nat,” Zoe answered in English.

“Zoe,” Natalie sighed happily. “Thank god, where are you?”

“…In Paris,” Zoe mumbled. “Nat, I just wanted to say I’m so-“

“Wait, what,” Natalie said, interrupting the young Frenchwoman. “Paris? What the hell are you doing there?”

“I- I just needed to get away,” Zoe said, recoiling from Natalie’s anger. “I’m so sorry, so sorry I said what I did, Natalie, Natalie, Natalie.”

“That doesn’t make what you said suck any less,” Natalie replied. “Nor does it excuse you skipping the country.”

“France is my home!” Zoe pleaded. “Where else in England would I have gone?”

“…Fine,” Natalie sighed. “Do you know when you’ll be back?”

“Not until after Christmas,” Zoe said, wincing as Natalie groaned disapprovingly.

“Fine, I’ll just leave all your presents under the tree until February, or whenever you feel like returning,” Natalie sighed. “Nice to know you take this relationship seriously.”

“I do take it seriously!” Zoe pleaded.

“I’ll believe you when you tell that to me face to face,” Natalie sighed. “See you after Christmas, Zoe.” Zoe shed a solitary tear as Natalie ended the call, before curling up into a ball on the sofa and moaning softly. Marie was wrong- her relationship with Natalie was much, much more than simply ‘cracked’- and it was all Zoe’s fault.

“This is so cool,” Hayley gushed as the beautician coated her fingernails with the same deep red colour as Jessica’s, Paige’s and her mother’s fingernails.

“Actually enjoying having an older sister, then?” Jessica asked the fifteen year old girl.

“A soon-to-be-famous older sister, too?” Paige teased.

“I guess,” Hayley sighed, making Jessica frown. “Though you always used to hate reality TV?”

“Oh, trust me, she still does,” Paige said, giggling as Jessica groaned.

“It…” Hayley said, before sighing. “I just don’t want to be known at school as the sister of a transsexual. You know what school’s like, the assholes there will cling onto ANYTHING…”

“Aye, it’s no different in Britain,” Paige sighed sympathetically.

“I can’t be something I’m not,” Jessica said in a quiet yet defiant voice. “I’m sorry if this causes trouble for you, I really am, but- but you have to understand what it’s like for me.”

“I know, I know,” Hayley sighed. “Just- you never gave any hint of it when we were growing up.”

“I learned to hide my emotions,” Jessica said, bringing a look of shame to her mother’s face.

“You always kid seem kinda… distant,” Hayley whispered. “Like, there was a part of your life you didn’t want anyone to see. Guess we’re all seeing it now, heh!”

“Jessica,” Mrs. Tyler said in a small, timid voice. “Were- were you really that unhappy when you were a b- when you were a child?”

“I wasn’t miserable, as such,” Jessica shrugged. “But I was never truly happy, never truly content… I always had this nagging feeling at the back of my mind, always knew there was something wrong. And then I figured out what was wrong… And that just made it worse.”

“I wish you’d told us sooner,” Jessica’s mother sighed.

“After the way you reacted in February?” Jessica asked. “Would it have made a difference?”

“What’s important is that everything’s out in the open now,” Paige interjected. “If you ever need to speak to anyone, I can give you my parents’ phone number-“

“I know how to handle my own daughter, thank you,” Mrs. Tyler said, silencing the Scottish girl.

“But does dad?” Jessica asked, frowning as Mrs. Tyler remained silent, unable to answer her daughter. “He hasn’t said five words to me since I’ve been back home.”

“He… He took it pretty hard,” Hayley whispered as the four women (and their fresh manicures) stepped out into the cold New York air.

“You know, you were nearly named Calvin junior, after your dad?” Mrs. Tyler said. “When he learned that you’d changed, you’d rejected being a man… It was like you were rejecting him.”

“That was never my intention,” Jessica whispered. “This is my life, not his. I love him just as much as his daughter as I did as his son. I just… I just don’t feel that the feeling’s mutual.”

“It IS your life,” Mrs. Tyler said. “But your father and I spent almost two decades of our lives raising you. At first, it felt- it felt like you were throwing that back in our faces.”

“I’d never, ever do that!” Jessica retorted, tears welling in her eyes. “I’ll happily tell anyone who’ll listen that I had a good childhood, a GREAT childhood, and you two were great parents, just- I wish I’d been your daughter rather than your son. This isn’t a decision I’ve taken lightly, I’ve literally been agonising over it for the past five years-“

“Then why haven’t you started hormone pills?” Hayley asked, silencing her older sister. “If you were that committed, like you say you are, then why haven’t you started taking oestrogen, like Paige?”

“Because…” Jessica said, before closing her eyes and silently cursing. “Because I needed to know that I had your support. That I had your approval… that I had your love.”

“You’ll ALWAYS have that,” Mrs. Tyler said, embracing her daughter. “You don’t need our approval. You’ve proved that you’re a strong, smart independent woman. As for support… I promise that, male or female, you’ll always have a home under our roof.”

“…Thank you,” Jessica whispered, slowly crying into her mother’s shoulder.

“And if you feel that it’s us who are stopping you from taking your pills,” Mrs. Tyler said, “if you need ‘permission’ to start taking them, you have it.”

“…But what about dad?” Jessica asked.

“You can ask him when you get home,” Mrs. Tyler said. “All I will say is that last month, we had the fear- however slight- that we’d lost you. We’re never running that risk ever again.” Jessica smiled as the four women walked down the streets of the vast metropolis. From that point onward, every step she took down the crowded sidewalk would feel like a step closer to the person she always wanted to be- and she was taking those steps side-by-side with the people who mattered most to her. Most of them, anyway…

Anna-Jade sighed as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She’d spent the last forty-five minutes on her hair and make-up, experimenting with every shade of eye shadow and lipstick she owned, tying and retying her hair into various styles and updos before eventually settling on her preferred loose ponytail. She’d had half her wardrobe out, looking for the perfect outfit to replace her bodysuit and skirt, eventually settling on a dark red turtleneck top with a small cut-out front, showing off what little cleavage she had (which she’d naturally enhanced with her last comfortable push-up bra). Her jean skirt had made way for a chic knee-length leather skirt, her comfortable tights had been replaced by dark fishnets, and her ballet flats had been replaced by a pair of tight, high-heeled knee-high boots.

The last time Anna-Jade had been to a Christmas party of any description, her name had been ‘Anthony’ and she’d worn a smart shirt and a pair of trousers… And had felt utterly out of place mingling with the other men. As her taxi pulled up outside the vast residence that would host her first Christmas party as Anna-Jade, the Irishwoman once again felt out of place, but for entirely different reasons.

“Hi,” Anna-Jade said to the tall dark-haired man standing by the door. “I, um, I’m here… Mary invited me?”

“Oh, you must be Anna-Jade,” the tall man said. “I’m Dan, Mary’s husband, please, come on in!” Anna-Jade smiled nervously as she stepped into the mansion’s reception area, though her nerves lessened as she saw the blonde-haired woman she’d talked to over Facebook waving her over.

“Hiya!” Mary giggled, greeting Anna-Jade with air kisses. “You’ve already met my other half Dan, this little treasure here,” Mary beamed with pride as she gestured to a small infant in a car seat next to her, “is Kristina-Leigh. Say hi to the nice lady, Kristina-Leigh!” Anna-Jade giggled as the tiny toddler laughed and waved.

“Sure, this is nerve-wracking,” Anna-Jade laughed. “When you said you’d get back to me, I thought you meant ‘send me a message back’ or ‘call me’, not ‘invite me to a celebrity party’… Nearly had a panic attack when you said it was a gift exchange, I didn’t have any time to go and get anything…”

“Ah, sure, you’re fine,” Mary replied. “There are other ‘guests’ here. Besides, I can’t show off the single, sexy guys to you over the phone, can I?”

“You really didn’t need to go to so much trouble,” Anna-Jade sighed. “Though have- have you heard from Michelle?”

“I have,” Mary said. “And yes, I brought up the fact that you and I are friends… She wasn’t happy, at least at first.”

“Typical her,” Anna-Jade spat.

“BUT!” Mary said. “But, I did give her your phone number, and I’ve got her number to give to you.” Anna-Jade smiled as she copied the mobile phone number from the screen of Mary’s expensive smartphone. “I think she wants to catch up, to at least speak to you again… Feel free to tell me to butt out if it’s none of my business, but why did you and she-“

“Butt out, no offence,” Anna-Jade said, making Mary giggle.

“Okay, okay,” Mary laughed.

“Though I am really, really grateful,” Anna-Jade said. “Pun not intended, but you really are like a guardian angel, heh. Dunno how I’ll ever be able to repay you for this…”

“Promise you’ll hang out with us more?” Mary asked, before sighing. “Our agent, our manager Joshua, he- he’s kinda hoping to ‘integrate’ you and your friends into our ‘extended family’ before your reality show’s broadcast next year…”

“Ah, so is this a work-mandated friendship?” Anna-Jade asked, her voice tinged with disappointment.

“I hope it doesn’t stay that way,” Mary sighed. “The downsides of a celebrity lifestyle, heh. Not that I’m calling you a phoney, if anything, I’M the phoney.”

“I hope it becomes a real friendship too,” Anna-Jade said, smiling as she and Mary shared a giggle. “And I know several people who’d be happy with the idea of a celebrity friendship, even if it is ‘work-mandated’ at first!”

“We wouldn’t be the first, either,” Mary laughed. “My best friend’s going into business with one of your now ex-colleagues.”

“What, Zoe?” Anna-Jade asked. “I heard about that, yeah…”

“Ah, you guys are going to fit in fine,” Mary said with a warm smile. “Now, I believe I promised you ‘single, sexy guys’… My hubby’s best friend’s a 6’ 1”, super-athletic personal trainer who’s EXTREMELY shy around women and has gone on record as saying that he’d be open to a relationship with a transgendered girl. Oh, and he hasn’t been laid in months.”

“Sounds right up my alley,” Anna-Jade said with a cheeky smile.

“At least go on a few dates with him before letting him anywhere near your ‘alley’!” Mary quipped, making Anna-Jade almost double over with laughter.

An hour later, Anna-Jade left the mansion with a tingle in her body. In addition to her sister’s telephone number, she’d also gained the phone number of Paul- the man Mary had introduced her to- and Facebook friend requests from several more of the celebrities she’d mingled with. As she arrived back at her apartment, however, Anna-Jade’s euphoria was quickly replaced by a feeling of dread. Getting her sister’s telephone number had been the easy part… The hard part- actually calling the number- was still to come.

Anna-Jade stared at her phone for almost ten minutes in the vain hope that her sister- who’d been given Anna-Jade’s number by Mary- would call, before ultimately deciding to take matters into her own hands. The Irishwoman’s thumb began to shake as she keyed the telephone number into her phone, and she paused before pressing ‘call’- if her sisters reacted to her the way her father did, then she truly would be alone…

The phone rang six times before finally being answered, making Anna-Jade’s teeth chatter with nerves.

“Hello, ANTHONY,” the angry-sounding voice- which sounded almost identical to Anna-Jade’s own- spat down the phone, making the flame-haired girl wince.

“It’s ‘Anna-Jade’,” the Irishwoman retorted. “It has been for the past eighteen fucking months.”

“That’s the sort of name an Essex chav calls her three year old,” Anna-Jade’s sister snorted. “Why did you call, anyway?”

“Well I was kinda hoping to wish you a merry Christmas, but I can tell that’s not going to fucking well happen,” Anna-Jade sighed.

“Merry Christmas, ‘Anna-Jade’,” the indignant voice on the other end of the Irishwoman’s phone said in a deeply sarcastic tone.

“Honestly, Michelle,” Anna-Jade sighed. “What the hell does it matter to you what I call myself?”

“Because-“ Michelle snapped, before sighing. “Because I miss having a big brother, someone I could talk to, someone I could confide in…”

“Michelle…” Anna-Jade sighed. “I’ve not got anywhere. Just because I’m your sister now instead of your brother, it doesn’t mean we can’t talk the way we used to- why do you think I’ve called you now? Certainly not to absolve any fucking ‘sin’ or anything!”

“You know…” Michelle says hesitantly. “You know I still pray for you, right? Pray that you’ll find your way back to the person you’re supposed to be. So do mum and dad.”

“Your prayers obviously worked,” Anna-Jade said. “Because I AM the person I’m supposed to be."

"The person you're supposed to be is the person you were born as!" Michelle snapped, before sighing. "But you'll never agree with that, will you?"

"The person I'm supposed to be is the person I've always been on the inside," Anna-Jade said in a calm, quiet voice. "And like it or not, that person's name is Anna-Jade. Come on, you're 25, you're not some closed-minded old fart. You've heard of Jamie-Lee Burke, right?"

"I wouldn't say I was a fan," Michelle replied. "Just tell me- just tell me why?"

"Because every day of my life," Anna-Jade replied, "I've had this voice in the back of my head, yelling at me that something was wrong- wrong with me. Every day, that voice has just got louder and louder until eventually it's deafening and it's all I can hear."

"What 'voice'?" Michelle asked. "Whose voice?"

"Anna-Jade's voice," the flame-haired woman replied. "I could either devote my life to ignoring it and end up driving myself mad or into the bottom of a bottle, or I could speak with that voice. If I'd ended up pissed out of my brain, you'd have supported me as I rehabbed, wouldn't you?"

"Well, of course," Michelle replied.

"And if I'd ended up depressed, or having suicidal thoughts, or on drugs, or gone barmy..." Anna-Jade said. "Even if I was gay, you wouldn't have abandoned me. So why can't you support me becoming the woman I always wanted to be?" Anna-Jade bit her lip as all she heard from the other end of the phone was silence.

"I- I don't know," Michelle mumbled after almost twenty seconds.

"When you find out, give me a call," Anna-Jade said, her voice devoid of anger. "You've got my number. Merry Christmas, Michelle."

"Merry Christmas, Ann- Ant- ugh. Just- just merry Christmas," Michelle replied, before ending the call. Anna-Jade smoothed the soft leather material of her skirt before laying back on the sofa, staring at her red-tipped toes as she wiggled them back and forth.

"Feet off the sofa," Rachel chuckled as she walked through the apartment's front door less than an hour later. "Why you all dressed up, anyway? That's a hell of an expensive skirt to just lounge around in!"

"Oh, just been to the Angels' gift exchange, that's all," Anna-Jade said, smirking as a brief look of pure jealousy washed across Rachel's face. "I'll tell you all about it if you put the kettle on?"

"No, no no no," Rachel joked as she moved Anna-Jade's legs and sat down beside the Irishwoman. "I'VE been working all day, dealing with some truly awkward customers. YOU put the kettle on!"

"Fine," Anna-Jade chuckled. "And do my ears deceive me, or did I just hear the straight-laced ultra-corporate Rachel Harrison complain about a customer?"

"On this one, solitary occasion, yes you did," Rachel laughed as she stretched her tired legs on the sofa.

The rich, filling nature of the Tylers' Christmas Eve meal did nothing to help Paige's tiredness, but the Scottish girl knew she had to stay awake and alert, if only for her lover's sake. The family had returned from their day trip to New York less than an hour earlier, and in that time, Jessica had barely spoken- and hadn't exchanged a single word with her father, who could barely bring himself to even look at the 23 year old woman.

"That was a delicious meal, Mrs. Tyler," Paige said, making the middle-aged American woman smile.

"Thank you, Paige," Jessica's mother replied. "Would you like to call your parents in Scotland? I'm sure they'll want to hear from you on Christmas Eve."

"It'll be gone 2am there by now," Paige said. "Thanks for the offer, though- may I call them tomorrow?"

"Of course," Mrs. Tyler said. "We don't mind a few extra dollars on our phone bill, do we, Calvin?"

"Hmm?" Jessica's father grunted, having been snapped out of a near trance-like state. "No, please, be my guest."

"Thanks, Mr. Tyler," Paige said, before noticing Jessica squirm under the gaze of the older man. "Umm, I'll give you a hand with the washing-up, Mrs. Tyler..." Jessica squirmed again as Paige left the room, not even giving her the chance to object, which left her alone in the lounge with her father.

"So," Jessica mumbled. "So, um, this is Christmas..."

"Yes, it is," Calvin replied.

"Did you- did you once tell me that was the first record you ever bought?" Jessica asked. "The John Lennon song, I mean..."

"That was your Uncle Frank," Calvin said, leading to another awkward silence.

"Dad, I-" Jessica said, before stammering as her father looked straight at her. "I need- I need to know that you're okay with this. With me, I mean, with this whole thing, with who I am, with what I'm doing, what I want to become-"

"You're babbling," Calvin said, silencing his daughter. "And in truth? No, I'm not okay. This change of yours- it's a lot to sink in, it's a lot for me to try to accept."

"You've had ten months to accept it," Jessica said. "Ten months in which I haven't worn a single male item of clothing, not one. Ten months in which I wore make up every single day, even on days when I wasn't at work. Ten months in which I forgot what it was like to ever be a boy."

"But did you really, though?" Calvin asked. "Did you really forget?"

"...No," Jessica sighed.

"During those ten months," Calvin said. "I kept hoping, every single day, that you'd call to tell us that you'd given up on this fantasy of being a woman."

"It is NOT a-" Jessica snapped, only for her father to continue uninterrupted.

"I kept hoping to hear you say that you were coming home," Calvin said. "But with every day that passed, I knew that that was less and less likely. Then the Paris attacks happened, and I didn't know whether you were alive or dead."

"Surely an alive daughter is better than a dead son?" Jessica asked.

"I kept telling myself the same thing," Calvin said. "But seeing you here, dressed like that... It's like my son IS dead. The boy I watched grow up for 23 years is gone and there's this strange woman sat in his place, and I'm supposed to carry on like nothing's happened."

"But a part of you had to have known, surely?" Jessica asked.

"Genuinely didn't have a clue," Calvin sighed. "I know your mother and your brother and sister can accept this without question, but I- I just can't. I'm sorry, Jessica."

"If you can't accept it without question, then ask your questions!" Jessica pleaded. "Anything, just ask!"

"Are you also gay?" Calvin asked, momentarily stunning Jessica before she remembered that she had permitted her father to ask her 'anything'.

"In as much as I am a lesbian, yes," Jessica said, making her father grimace.

"Do you miss being a man?" Calvin asked.

"Sometimes," Jessica whispered. "There are some bits I miss... But it's mostly this, mostly just family that I miss."

"Do you wish that you'd been born a girl?" Calvin asked, dreading the answer.

"Constantly," Jessica said. "This isn't about me simply wanting to be 'different'. It's about me wanting to be a woman, a woman I've always wanted to be."

"And, I guess this is the $64 000 question," Calvin sighed. "Would you ever consider going back to being a man?"

"Never," Jessica said confidently. "Even after I leave Soixante-Trois for another job, it'll be as Jessica, not Jesse. These last sixteen months... It's like I finally know who I really am."

"Okay then," Calvin said in a resigned, defeated voice. "I guess that given the choice between wearing a skirt and wearing a badge that read 'Trump 2016', I know which one I'd prefer you to wear!" Jessica giggled at her father's political joke as the older man himself started to relax.

"I heard laughter," Mrs. Tyler said as she re-entered the room. "Dare I hope...?"

"I'm just catching up with our daughter," Calvin said, his voice wavering as he said the word 'daughter' before filling with pride. "We have a lot to talk about..."

"Joyeux Noel!" Mme Renou cheered as her youngest daughter strode down the stairs into the vast living room.

"Joyeux Noel, mama, papa," Zoe sighed as she slumped down onto the sofa.

"Joyeux Noel," M Renou said with a chuckle as he gave his daughter a kiss. "Don't wait for us, start opening your presents!"

"Thanks," Zoe sighed happily as she tore open her presents, the fanciest of which was, by far, a new iPhone 6S.

"You really didn't need to go to so much trouble," Zoe said. "You didn't even know whether or not I was going to be home for Christmas..."

"Well you ARE home, and that's the important thing," Zoe's mother said, giving the 21 year old woman another hug. "I suppose you'll have plenty more presents waiting for you back home in London?"

"Assuming I ever go back," Zoe sighed.

"What about your new job?" Zoe's father asked. "When you told us about it you sounded so excited, going back to doing what you love- teaching, especially getting to work with a British celebrity."

"Yeah, but..." Zoe whined.

"No buts!" M Renou said in a stern voice. "You've already thrown one career away, don't throw this one away before it's even had a chance to start!"

"Your father and I can't support you forever," Zoe's mother said, making the young woman shrink into her dressing gown.

"I... I kinda had a falling out with Natalie," Zoe mumbled.

"Natalie?" Zoe's father asked. "The girl who's actually a boy but who lives as a girl, the one you've been seeing?"

"Yeah," Zoe sighed. "I- I called her Matthew, her 'male' name, her old name... It's probably the worst thing I could have ever said to her." Zoe's mother sat down next to the tearful young woman and placed a comforting arm on her shoulder as she began to slowly weep.

"Let it all out," Mme Renou said as Zoe blubbed. "No one should cry on Christmas Day. But your father's right, you will have to go back to London at some point, especially if your new friend is counting on you."

"Have you spoken to Natalie since your fight?" M Renou asked, his heart wrenching at the sight of his daughter crying.

"Yes," Zoe whispered. "And it just triggered another fight... Papa, I really love her, but I- I just ruin everything I come into contact with, my job, my relationship..."

"You're not going to solve anything by running a thousand kilometres back home," M Renou said, softening his voice as much as he could. "Tonight, we're getting you another present- a ticket for a one-way flight back to London."

"Can- can I just stay here for one more night, please?" Zoe pleaded. "I just- I just want to spend Christmas night with you, mama, papa, please?"

"No," Mme Renou said sternly. "It's time you started accepting responsibility for your actions. Starting with repairing your relationship with Natalie."

"When I first told you I was going out with someone transgendered, you weren't very happy," Zoe reminded her mother.

"And then I saw how happy she makes you," Zoe's mother replied. "Frankly I don't care what gender she chooses to be. As long as she puts a smile on your face, that's the only important thing."

"You said you truly loved her," M Renou said. "If you want this relationship of yours to be truly equal, you need to fight for her as much as you expect her to fight for you." Zoe nodded, before sighing and slouching back onto the sofa. Her parents were, of course, correct...

"Merry Christmas!" Anna-Jade and Rachel both yelled into the Irishwoman's mobile phone as they switched them back on following their return flight to London from Amsterdam.

"Merry Christmas!" Jessica and Paige yelled down their phone.

"Hope your stockings were nice and full this morning," Paige giggled, causing Jessica to give her a playful shove.

"They were," Rachel said as she adjusted her seamed hosiery.

"We got plenty of presents too!" Anna-Jade laughed, making her supervisor chuckle and roll her eyes. "Got plenty waiting for you two as well, when you get back from America, anyway."

"So," Rachel asked, "how did the big reconciliation go?"

"Better than I could have hoped for," Jessica sighed happily. "Eventually, anyway... My parents took a LOT of convincing."

"You'll have to let me know what you said," Anna-Jade sighed.

"Oh god, Anna-Jade..." Paige said with a sad voice. "Did- did you try to talk to your folks again?"

"Tried, yes, failed, yes," the Irishwoman moaned.

"I'll, um, I'll get the tube home," Rachel whispered, recognising the sensitivity of the situation.

"And at Christmas, too," Jessica sighed. "I'm so, so sorry, Anna-Jade..."

"I did get a 'consolation prize', though," Anna-Jade said. "I'm on speaking terms with my sister again, which is something, I guess."

"That's great!" Paige said. "What, did you just call her, or did she call you?"

"Long story," Anna-Jade chuckled as she remembered her brush with celebrity. "I'll not waste your parents' phone bill, got to get changed, get home... Rachel's off to her parents' for Christmas dinner so it'll be just me and Annabelle."

"What about Natalie and Zoe?" Paige asked. "Have they gone to Paris to have Christmas with Marie?"

"Another long story," Anna-Jade sighed. "I'll let you go know, you two take care and get yourselves home in one piece!"

"Will do," Jessica chuckled. "Merry Christmas, Anna-Jade." Jessica smiled as she clicked off the phone, before straightening her smart black dress, her translucent black tights and touching up her blood red lipstick.

"Are you off the phone?" Jessica's father called from the living room.

"Yes, dad," Jessica replied.

"Good," Calvin said. "We were able to find the Queen's speech online for Paige, whenever she wants to watch it."

"Thank you Mr. Tyler," Paige responded as she and Jessica walked down the stairs, "but it's okay really, I came to America to experience America... Do you have, like, a President's speech on Christmas Day?"

"Nope!" Calvin said. "Besides, I kinda want to watch it myself, see what all the fuss is about. Couldn't hurt to learn a bit more about your culture, especially seeing as you're going out with my daughter." Jessica grinned wide as her father addressed her once again as his daughter, his own smile widening every time he used the term 'daughter'.

Zoe had a frown on her face as she was all but frog marched through the concourse at Nice Cote d'Azur airport by her parents.

"Please let me just stay for one more day," Zoe pleaded. "I promise I'll get on a flight first thing tomorrow morning, please?"

"You and I both know you'll beg for another day just as you're doing now," M. Renou sighed.

"Normally, we'd love for you to stay a little longer," Zoe's mother said, "but not right now, not when you're unsettled in your life at home. You need to sort your problems out, rather than running away from them."

"I know, I know," Zoe sighed as she rummaged in her handbag for her boarding pass.

"On the bright side," M Renou said, "at least you'll be getting on a flight and can sit back and enjoy it, which is more than your sister can say about her Christmas Day!"

"I guess," Zoe sighed as she lazily gazed around the airport, looking at the passengers and their families as they prepared to board their flights. One face, however, caught Zoe's eye- an androgynous-looking dark haired man, who looked VERY familiar to the young Frenchwoman.

"...Natalie?" Zoe whispered as her eyes met the dark haired man, whose eyes flickered with the same recognition as her own. "Natalie!" Zoe dropped her bags at her parents' feet and took off running toward her lover, her short, loose dress fluttering around her legs as she ran into Natalie's embrace. "Natalie..." Zoe whispered as she rested her head on her lover's flat chest.

"Well, 'Matthew'," Natalie said, making Zoe grimace as waves of guilt swept through her body.

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry," Zoe whispered. "I'm the most selfish, immature person in the world..."

"Trust me, all is forgiven," Natalie said, kissing Zoe softly on her forehead. "I love you FAR too much to hold something like that against you. So what if you want to quit a couple of days earlier than planned, god knows if I ever find another job, on my last day I'd probably force the entire company into insolvency!"

"...I was still a bit of a bitch, though," Zoe giggled, before grimacing again as her parents approached her. "Nat- Matthew, you remember my parents, right?"

"Ah, Monsieur et Madame Renou," Natalie said in flawless, barely-accented French. "It's a pleasure to meet you again."

"Likewise," M Renou said. "Even if this is the first time we've met 'Mister' Briggs!"

"Yeah..." Natalie grimaced. "I kinda came here in a hurry, didn't want any arguments about my passport. Only got away with the name 'Natalie' being on there by saying it was for a bet."

"Zoe's lucky to have someone as forgiving as you," Mme Renou said as she exchanged air-kisses with the Englishwoman.

"I'm lucky to have someone as wonderful as your daughter," Natalie laughed. "She's kind, funny, exceptionally beautiful, and perfectly okay with me wearing nothing but women's clothing for months at a time!" Natalie giggled as Zoe blushed from the compliments she was being paid. "I mean it, Zo. Yes, you're hot-headed at times, but that just makes me love you all the more."

"I love you too," Zoe whispered. "What are you even doing here, anyway? Did you two know about this?"

"Natalie sent a text to Marie, who called us," Mme Renou said with a smug grin. "She explained she was on her way to Nice, we figured we'd meet her at the airport."

"I sort-of conned Anna-Jade into doing my shift for me today," Natalie explained. "Some things are more important than work."

"Thank you," Zoe whispered as she, her parents and her lover returned to her home, where Zoe and Natalie immediately jumped into bed, not wanting to waste any time making up after their fight.

The following morning, both Natalie and Zoe smiled as they sat together on their flight back to Heathrow from Nice. Natalie had shed the jeans and sweatshirt that she'd worn when she flew to Nice, and was instead dressed in a tight grey miniskirt, black tights and a cleavage-baring black top. Her long brown hair fell loosely around her shoulders, her face was immaculately made-up and her ears were, of course, populated by long, dangly earrings.

"Some people are staring," Zoe whispered as she discreetly rubbed her own hosed leg against Natalie's. "Do you care?"

"Nope," Natalie whispered in her preferred feminine voice. "Feels so good to be wearing a thong again..."

"You wore a thong underneath your jeans last night," Zoe reminded her lover, who smiled an evil smile. "Kinda weird knowing I don't ever have to wear a thong again if I don't want to..."

"But you still will, right?" Natalie asked. "Do girls get the same, well, 'fun' from it that, um, 'not-genetic' girls do?"

"Meh, sometimes," Zoe shrugged. "Natalie... Was it offensive? I mean, on flights, when I used to pretend to be transgendered..."

"...I didn't think so," Natalie said in a stoic voice that made Zoe cringe.

"But some people did, right?" Zoe asked.

"You were born the way everyone wished they were," Natalie said. "Everyone including me. I'd have given anything to have been born XX instead of XY, but I have to settle for that I've got."

"But you- you actually get to enjoy this," Zoe said. "The feeling of dressing up the way you always wanted, getting to become the person you always wanted..."

"Just because I can, it doesn't mean that you can't," Natalie said. "Nothing stopping you from getting the same little sparks of joy I get every time I pull on a thong, or pull on a pair of tights over soft, smooth skin, or apply make-up... And before you say 'to me, that's every day', it's every day for me too, or at least it has been for over two years. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy it as much as I did the first time." Zoe sighed, before smiling as she stroked the soft, thin fabric of the tights covering her slender thighs.

"Allow yourself to enjoy it, and you will," Natalie said. "Same applies for the tights and the leotards you're going to be spending hours in each day from now onwards. You don't know what I'd give to have a body as flexible and athletic as yours..."

"You'll just have to settle for unlimited 'visiting rights'!" Zoe giggled, giving Natalie a kiss and smiling as she felt their lipsticks mingle together.

"You NEED to come back soon," Mrs. Tyler said as she gave Jessica a long, tender hug, before sharing a hug with Paige. "You too!"

"Oh, trust me, I'd live in America if I had the chance," Paige giggled.

"Jess- Jessica," Mr. Tyler said, supportively holding his daughter's hand in his. "You're one hundred percent sure that this is what you want to do?"

"One million percent," Jessica said. "The second I get back to London, I'm emailing my counsellor and requesting a prescription for oestrogen tablets."

"I feel guilty, in a way," Calvin sighed. "Almost as though I was holding you back- the exact opposite of what a parent SHOULD do for their child, whatever gender they want to be."

"You have nothing to feel guilty about," Jessica said, giving her father a long hug, which the middle-aged man awkwardly reciprocated. "I have your support now, that's all that matters."

"And you'll never lose it," Calvin whispered, before releasing Jessica and allowing Hayley to give her a long hug.

"See you round, sis!" Hayley giggled, before Aaron gave Jessica a quick, awkward hug.

"Yeah, see you, Jessica," Aaron said.

"If you get the chance, get over to London over summer break," Jessica said. "We'll always have space for you."

"You AND Lizzie!" Paige said, making Aaron chuckle as he gave the Scottish girl a hug. "As long as you don't mind sharing a flat with a load of ultra-girly girls, anyway!"

"I'll think about it," Aaron chuckled.

"And I promise I'll be back soon," Jessica said as she and Paige picked up their hand luggage and headed toward their departure lounge. "I love you, ALL of you. I'm so glad you can love Jessica as much as you loved Jesse."

"You're our child," Mrs. Tyler said with a proud smile. "That's all that's needed for us to love you." Jessica wiped a tear from her eyes, before linking her fingers with Paige’s and heading to their plane. Soon, they were high above the Atlantic Ocean, heading back to their adopted hometown of London.

The sound of her phone ringing almost caused Anna-Jade to swear in shock, but her shock was soon replaced with surprise when she saw the identity of the person who was calling her.

"Michelle!" Anna-Jade said with a happy chuckle. "Happy Boxing Day!"

"And you, Anna-Jade!" Michelle said cautiously. "Sure, it still feels so weird saying that name..."

"How was Christmas?" Anna-Jade asked. "Did- did you talk to mum and dad?"

"I spent yesterday round there," Michelle replied.

"And- and did- did they-" Anna-Jade stammered.

"They didn't ask about you, no," Michelle whispered. "I mentioned that I'd spoken to you, but they immediately changed the topic... Anna-Jade, I'm so, so sorry, I tried, I-"

"You did more than I could've expected you to this time last week," Anna-Jade sighed. "Guess it's gonna take a bit longer than I'd hoped after all."

"Maybe when you become a national celebrity, that'll get their attention," Michelle chuckled. "Already seen you in the background of some of the Angels' photos from Christmas Eve. I LOVE that leather skirt!"

"Thanks," Anna-Jade giggled. "Maybe if you're ever in London, I'll show you where I got it?"

"Maybe if you're ever in Derry, you can tell me then," Michelle replied. "Any time you want to come home... You're always welcome at mine. I've cleared it with Jonny and he's okay with it."

"Who the fuck's Jonny when he's at home?" Anna-Jade asked.

"My fiancé," Michelle replied with a smug grin. "Got a little bit more for Christmas than I was expecting!"

"Oh, Michelle, congratulations!" Anna-Jade giggled. "Would it be presumptive to ask if you've got any bridesmaids yet?"

"It's gonna be a Catholic wedding in a Catholic church," Michelle said. "A transgender bridesmaid would cause the priest to have a stroke..."

"It would if I was still a boy and about 20 years younger," Anna-Jade said, making Michelle gasp, before laughing hard.

"Are you sure you're becoming a woman and not Frankie fucking Boyle?" Michelle asked. "...I'll think about it. I want you there at the wedding, Anna-Jade. In a bridesmaid's dress? ...As I said, I'll think about it. I've got to go now, Jonny's promised me a massage and I am NOT saying no to one of those! Take care of yourself, Anna-Jade."

"You too, Michelle," Anna-Jade sighed, before clicking off her phone. Twenty minutes later, she welcomed Jessica and Paige back to their flat with long, tight hugs, which the three woman also shared with Natalie and Zoe once they arrived (having first taken the time to unpack at their flat). After they were joined by Rachel and Annabelle- and the obligatory camera crew- the women celebrated their successful 'reunion' by opening up a bottle of wine, which was quickly followed by a second bottle.

"That's so cool about you and your folks," Natalie said to Jessica, who giggled in response.

"Even cooler about you and oestrogen!" Zoe interjected. "That is way too long overdue!"

"Thanks," Jessica sighed. "It's like- it's like I can finally put that last remnants of 'Jesse' behind me and look forward to the rest of my life as 'Jessica'. Always looking forward, never backward."

"That's my girl!" Paige laughed as she gave Jessica a tight cuddle.

"Even if it does mean I'll be 26 by the time I finally get my SRS," Jessica sighed.

"Sure, I'm 27 next month and I've still got a cock," Anna-Jade sighed. "One I want shot of ASAP!"

"And you will be shot of it once you've worked for the company for three years," Rachel said. "You have my personal guarantee. It sucks about your parents, though..."

"Eh, I've got my little sister back, that's a start for now," Anna-Jade shrugged. "If my parents take a little longer, I'll just have to wait for the bigoted old shites to open their minds, won't I?"

"Sometimes I think the only reason you swear so much is to make me panic that you'll do so on a flight," Rachel said.

"Oh, fuck off," Anna-Jade good-naturedly chuckled, making the room laugh.

"It'd be pretty immature if that was the reason, though," Zoe said, looking at Rachel with apologetic eyes.

"'Immature' is just another word for 'needs to grow up'," Rachel said. "Anyone can grow up and stop being immature if they work at it hard enough. And I'm confident that all six women in this room ARE the hardest working people I've ever known."

"Except for when I can't be arsed," Natalie giggled.

"How about you, Annabelle?" Jessica asked her fellow American. "Good Christmas?" Annabelle smiled sweetly, even as she remembered staring at her phone all throughout Christmas Day, waiting futilely for her parents or one of her siblings to call.

"It was fine, honey," Annabelle said, trying to disguise the pain in her voice. "Glad to have my sisters all back now, though!"

"Glad to BE back!" Paige giggled. "So, Zo, when you opening your school?"

"It's not 'my' school," Zoe sighed. "It'll be open first week in January, when the kids go back to school."

"You know yet which classes you'll be teaching?" Rachel asked.

"The advanced classes, mostly," Zoe said. "The girls who already have their pointe shoes. I'll be putting them through their paces, keeping them on their toes..."

"Literally!" Paige giggled. "Not got room for any beginners in your classes, then?"

"Well..." Zoe giggled. "I may have asked for a favour from Krystie- my new boss- before I signed up..."

Ten days later, Zoe giggled excitedly as she stood in the middle of the spacious dance studio, dressed in her beloved pale pink tights, jet black leotard, custom pointe shoes and flimsy black ballet skirt. Just as Natalie had advised, she adored every sensation the clothes created as they clung to her body- even if those feelings were mainly of comfort and of an intense sense of belonging. What made Zoe giggle the most, however, was the sight of the six people in front of her.

"I feel utterly ridiculous," Rachel sighed as she adjusted her baby pink leotard. "I'm 28, for Christ's sake, I feel like a four year old girl going to her first dance lesson..."

"I still can't believe this actually is your first ever dance lesson," Natalie said as she adjusted her breast forms inside her own matte black leotard. "And sorry about the 'miscommunication' about the uniforms. That was Zoe's idea!" Rachel sighed as she stared at the other five women at the barre, each dressed in black leotards of varying styles. Rachel should have been furious about sticking out like a sore thumb... But chose instead to take the prank as it was intended, as a harmless bit of fun. If Zoe could mature- or at least try to mature- then so could she.

Natalie smiled as she adjusted the ribbons on her soft ballet shoes. With their shifts, it'd be almost impossible for all seven women to be taught ballet by Zoe at the same time, but that didn't mean that Natalie couldn't support her French lover at every available opportunity. Natalie had always prided herself on being carefree and independent, but her falling out with Zoe had proved just how much she needed the Frenchwoman in her life. If Zoe needed her support, then she would have it without question. Especially if it meant stretching skin-tight lycra across her body.

"We'll begin with a few warm-up stretches," Zoe announced. "I know, I know, you came here to dance, but you have to learn to walk before you can run. Or dance en pointe. Sorry Annabelle, but at least this way, you won't risk breaking your ankle or worse!" Annabelle blushed as she was reminded of the time she showed up to a costume party wearing a tutu and pointe shoes, and danced en pointe despite her virtually non-existent ballet training. If her parents had seen her dressed the way she was then- or even the way she was in Zoe's class- they'd have disowned her forever. But Annabelle knew deep down that blood relations weren't what made people truly family.

Anna-Jade felt the same way as Annabelle, even though she'd finally began to reconcile with her blood relatives. Her parents had given her life, but by denying the existence of Anna-Jade, they were also threatening to take it away. Anna-Jade had no intention of letting them do so, and had every intention of showing up to her sister's wedding wearing the bridesmaid's dress that was rightfully hers, whether her parents approved or not.

Anna-Jade smile grew even wider as the lesson ended and her new boyfriend Paul approached her, firmly squeezing her soft left buttock in his hand even as she tried to pull a knee-length skirt over her soft long-sleeved leotard. Her parents would undoubtedly approve of him even less than the bridesmaid's dress...

After changing into her long-sleeved minidress, Paige watched with pride as Jessica pulled on her own black denim skirt and long-sleeved top, before reaching into her dance bag for two small vials of pills.

Jessica smiled nervously as she popped the tops off of the vials and rolled the two pills around in her hand. For ten years, she'd dreamed of being a woman to the extent that it had occupied her every waking thought on more than one occasion. She'd watched as her friends and her lover had taken the plunge and started their treatments whilst she'd been left behind, growing increasingly frustrated and depressed at her masculine body. But all that was about to change. Jessica put the two pills on her tongue and washed it down with a swig from her bottle of water. All of her friends cheered as she showed them her empty mouth, symbolising her successful first step toward becoming the woman she always wanted to be.

"I'm so proud of you," Paige whispered as she gave Jessica a long, slow kiss on her lips. "I love you so much."

"I couldn't have done any of this without you," Jessica whispered. "I love you too." As the first drops of the oestrogen began to disperse through Jessica's blood, she found herself daydreaming about the potential her future held- of having SRS and becoming an anatomical woman, of advancing in her career, of becoming a professional, a homeowner... And of becoming a bride. Jessica owed everything she'd accomplished- both personally and professionally- to Paige, and she adored the Scottish girl with all her heart. And yet, Jessica couldn't help but feel that once the oestrogen began to dominate her body, her feelings toward Paige would change...